UPDATED: Councillors’ anger at new school views being ‘brushed aside’

Town councillors say their views on plans for a new primary school have been ‘brushed aside as irrelevant and binned’.

Proposals for the school in Catchpin Street on the new Lace Hill site, in Buckingham, have been approved by Aylesbury Vale District Council.

The school will have places for 210 children to be run by the Bourton Meadow Education Trust. It is scheduled to open in 2015.

But Buckingham Town Council has ‘considerable concerns’ about the access and traffic movement around the school and says it has been ‘deprived of an opportunity to voice them’.

Councillors also claim the district council did not publish its letter of objection in full for Buckingham residents to read online and claims it did not receive a response to its letter from AVDC.

In a statement, Buckingham Town Council said: “In the normal course of events, a contrary decision generates a letter of explanation detailing why AVDC has overruled the local views, and one has not been received in this instance. It is almost as if the town council’s views have been brushed aside as irrelevant and binned.”

Susan Kitchen, development management manager for the district council, said: “In this particular case, officers dealt with the application under delegated powers in consultation with the chairman of the strategic development control committee.

“The case officer’s report, which was published on the AVDC website on February 19, included a summary of the matters raised by the town council and the reasons for approving planning permission.

“A letter was sent to the town council on May 26, explaining the reasons for taking the decision.

“We’re sorry that we didn’t respond to the council’s enquiries sooner, but we would like to stress that its comments were taken into account in the determination of the application.”

An AVDC spokesman said the town council had now received its response and its letter of objection had been available to read online while the application was being considered.